Crowdfunding Planning: Strategic Thinking vs. Tactical Thinking

I’ve been guilty of it myself: using the words strategy and tactics interchangeably. Beyond semantics, however, if you’re hazy on the difference, your crowdfunding preparation will be too. So formulate your plan in the correct order.

Make sure you don’t to jump from your goal, which is the measurable objective—let’s say it’s raising $10,000—and go straight to the tactics, which are the actions you take in order to achieve your goal.crowdfunding marketing

Your strategy is your vision of how to attain your goal. It should be a consciously and purposefully devised plan, and one that you can clearly communicate.

Here are the components of a Strategy:

Understanding your story and your brand

Having firm grasp of the big picture

Having an intimate knowledge of your market

Knowing your competition

Making a realistic assessment of your weaknesses

Here are some components of Tactics:

Tools

Logistics

Hacks

Have you heard of the “what if” test? It’s sometimes called Sensitivity Analysis and it’s a tool that allows you to test whether you are putting forth a strategy or a tactic. Simply ask the question to determine if it contains an idea. If it does, you have a strategy; if not, it’s just a tactic.crowdfunding advertising

Let’s say with your $10,000 goal you want to create, and star in your own reality TV show about buying run-down properties, fixing them up and flipping them for a profit. You feel qualified because you love real estate, you have taken a couple of architecture classes, you’re a great bargain hunter, you do great under pressure, and you acted a lot in college and always got the lead roles.indiegogo marketing

Is all that enough?

Using the above example, ask yourself:

What if I create a reality show to renovate and flip houses? (Strategy)

What if I write a treatment? (Tactic)

What if I make a great demo tape? (Tactic)

What if I move to LA? (Tactic)

What if befriend industry professionals like television agents, real estate brokers, builders, and contractors (Tactic)kickstarter marketing

Considering there are at least five other similar reality TV shows just like your idea that already exist, if you start to implement all those tactics without making sure you have all your strategy components in place, you won’t get far, right?

I know what you’re thinking: This is a far-fetched example! But it works because it starkly illustrates whether you’re working strategically or tactically—because sometimes it’s really hard to wrap our heads around the difference.

People want to jump into tactics because they are actions, and actions make us feel like we’re moving our agenda forward. With so many tools out there—and more being developed faster than you can bookmark them—creating crowdfunding tactics is, relatively speaking, the easy part. It’s the strategy that’s tougher.

So whether your tactics include marketing automation, split testing, or the latest, hottest hack—all great tools to have in your arsenal—be sure to proceed with a clear strategy before deploying them. Otherwise all those time savers will produce the opposite effect.kickstarter project

Get in front of your idea. (Strategy) Don’t count on tactics to push you to the finish line. (Strategy)Posted from : http://thecrowdfundamentals.com/crowdfunding-planning-strategic-thinking-vs-tactical-thinking/?goback=%2Egde_1985057_member_5799131948794261508